Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship
by heartsvilleMonarch
Summary: When Luke and Spook swap bodies, Spook is pretty eager to get back to his normal self. But is that what Luke wants? Contains Spook/Darren in an established relationship. Everything here belongs to Ali Sparkes.
1. Chapter 1

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings:** Contains Spook/Darren in an established relationship. Also, the lines that seperate story breaks are on the blink, so please read carefully.

**AN:** I must be insane, starting a multi-chaptered fic in the middle of Script Frenzy. I should probably get the next chapter done in the first week of May, if I get a good response!

* * *

Luke entered the room silently, as usual, and no-one noticed he was around until he tapped Gideon on the shoulder. He whipped round quickly, and smiled when he saw what it was.

"Luke, where've you been? Come have a look." He pushed Luke forward through the group to see the object Mia had found earlier that morning. Luke's mouth opened to an "o" in surprise and he tapped his brother's shoulder again to sign something.

'_It's beautiful.'_

* * *

Spook was in a foul mood, having just spent the weekend with his family- his dad, his step-mum and step-siblings. He didn't mind them, he had quite a nice time, really, it was his dad that was the problem. Spook could swear his father hadn't looked at him once the entire weekend.

And he hadn't seen Darren all week- Spook felt like he was getting withdrawal symptoms, for gods sake. When did this happen- he couldn't go two days without the infuriating, adorable, mop of black hair and sandals that was his boyfriend? Admittedly, their relationship was meant to be a secret, _because Darren can be a skittish deer at times when it comes to PDA_, Spook mused. But god, he missed him.

"Spook?" Mia was reading in the tree house, but she climbed down when she saw him coming. "Ah, it is you. You're back!"

"Didn't take you too long to miss me then?" joked Spook, as she gave him a quick hug. "What's been going on since Friday?" They started walking side by side.

"Well, we did the archaeology, digging thing that Clive was on about? And you'll never guess what we found."

"What?"

"A crystal!"

"Oh." _No offence, Mia, _thought Spook, _but I was hoping for something a little more interesting. _She laughed at him.

"Don't jump to conclusions, it's actually pretty cool. It's glowing."

"Glowing?" Spook asked. "Like, properly glowing?"

Mia nodded. "Yes, and it's sort of warm, too. Lisa's tried to read it of course, but all she got was that it's... waiting for someone. Or half of someone- like it's got one person already, and it's waiting to find the other." She shook her head and giggled again. "I don't know, it's just what she says. But you have to see it," she told him, as they entered the doors to Fenton Lodge.

"Sure thing, just let me drop off my bag and I'll meet you there. Where is it?"

"The living room!" She called as he ran up the stairs. _The living room? Surely something as obviously supernatural as this would be in the lab, or at least the Science classroom? _But Spook stopped wondering about it when he caught sight of the door to his room. Room 6, the most perfect, heart-warming sight you could get around here. Spook knew that when he opened that door, Darren would be on the other side. And that would be enough to banish any foul mood. He flung open the door, as flamboyantly as usual, imagining Darren would be reading a book, or chilling out with his iPod or something. But he would be _there._

_Or not, _Spook thought venomously, beholding the empty room. _Where the hell is he?_ He threw his backpack full of the essentials- (clothes, toothbrush, hair gel) onto his bed, and then noticed that it made a crumpling sound as it landed. Spook shoved his backpack out of the way to find a once neatly folded, now flattened note. He immediately recognised Darren's scratchy handwriting.

_Spook,_

_I don't know what time you're coming back, so if you come back and I'm not here then I'm in the Music Room. Miss you!_

_xx_

_Darren._

For the first time, Spook realised that Darren's guitar was missing. He took flight to the Music Room immediately.

* * *

Darren was randomly plucking strings on his guitar, half-hoping they'd turn into a brilliant, catchy tune. Pretty soon he gave up, moved his hand into the D chord position and started on a song- one that he knew so well that he could literally play it with his eyes closed. He lay back on the floor with his beloved guitar and started to strum with his eyes closed, relaxing.

"When the moon fell in love with the sun,

All was golden in the sky,

All was golden when the day met the night."

God, he missed Spook. He was oddly flamboyant, and irritating when certain people were around, but he was also sweet, and suprisingly bashful. Darren checked the clock as he played for what must have been the millionth time that hour. 11:13. Spook was probably still at the guest house.

"When the moon found the sun

He looked like he was barely hanging on,

But her eyes saved his life

In the middle of summer."

He closed his eyes again and continued to sing.

* * *

Spook could hear his favourite song playing as he walked up the corridor to the Music room. He smiled- that meant Darren was there. Spook opened the door as quietly as he could to peek at his boyfriend lazily strumming and singing with his eyes closed. _How does he do that? _Spook wondered in his head. His voice was gorgeous as usual- rich and honeyed. Spook remembered Clive waffling on about some poet from Greek mythology the other day, who could play so well that even the gods knew his name, and nymphs would come from the lakes and the trees to dance while his voice surrounded the forest.

_Well, _thought Spook, _still not a patch on my Darren. _He cleared his throat and noticeably pushed open the door, causing Darren to stop what he was doing in alarm. He whipped around, scared until he noticed Spook, who grinned at him.

"You're back!" he yelled, and ran over to envelop him in a hug. "How was it?"

"Eurgh," replied Spook, flopping down into a chair.  
"Eurgh?" Darren questioned.

"You know, just dad... being dad. That sort of thing." Darren smiled sympathetically, and then a thought struck him.

"Spook, you haven't seen the crystal yet!"

"Oh yeah, Mia said something about a crystal."

"Mia?" asked Darren, raising an eyebrow while Spook laughed.

"Calm down, she was in the tree house. We walked here together." Darren decided to let that one go.

"Come on, you've got to see it. Maybe it's you it's been waiting for." He took Spook's hand, glanced at him, then led him out of the door, running.

* * *

Luke stared at the glowing crystal. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary- (well, apart from the fact that it was glowing) just like a large ore that you could find in a charity shop. _But it was still beautiful, _thought Luke. And it was calling to him.

_Luke..._ it called, in his head. _Luke..._ Luke whipped around to face his fellow COLA'S. He started to sign something to Gideon, who shook his head, and Clive understood too, but everyone else was facing him with that oh-so-similar and oh-so-annoying look of confusion. He sighed, and brought out his whiteboard.

_Luke... _He scribbled furiously. '_Did anyone hear that?' _Everyone shook their heads, and some people said "no."

"Hear what, Luke?" Clive asked.

_Luke... _He turned around to face the crystal again. _'It's coming from there!' _he wrote. Lisa stepped forward.

"Luke, I can't hear anything. And I've tried, honestly. All I got that it was... waiting for someone."

"Maybe it was waiting for Luke," Jenny suggested. "Try touching it, Luke."

"No, don't!" Clive cried. "They told us not to touch it- the scientists." Luke shook his head, and started to write again.

'_Why would they put it in the living room if they didn't want us to touch it? Wouldn't they put it in the lab?"_

"Good point," said Jake. "Come on, I doubt anything will happen anyway." Luke went to touch it, but at that moment Spook and Darren walked into the room, hand in hand. There was a stunned silence, and Darren wrenched his hand away.

"Hey guys," Spook said calmly. "This is the crystal, then?"

"You're back," Dax noticed with obvious distaste.

"Got a problem with that, dingo?" Spook replied, but Darren sighed and poked him in the shoulder.

"Calm down," he muttered.

_Spook..._

Spook suddenly cocked his head. "Did you hear that?" he asked his friend. Luke looked at him and started to write.

'_You can hear it too?'_

"Yeah," replied Spook, surprised. "It's calling my name." Luke nodded, and pointed to himself. "You too? Is it just us?" Luke nodded again and half-stretched his hand out, wavering slightly. Spook understood. "We may as well," he said quietly. Slowly, as their friends watched with held breath, they both reached out their hands to rest on the crystal. It glowed intensely, bathing everyone in a silvery, glittering light. The girls "oooh"-ed and "aaah"-ed. It died down, leaving Spook and Luke staring at each other blankly.

"Anything else happen?" asked Gideon, worriedly. The two boys retracted their hands.

"Not that I can see," said Spook, although he was still staring at Luke. Dax walked to the door.

"I'll go tell Owen," he said, and then stopped short as best-friend's brother and his worst enemy fell to the floor, unconscious.

**Reviews fuel the story better than Oreo's, so please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings:** Contains Spook/Darren in an established relationship.

**AN: **If I hadn't made this totally clear already, this INCLUDES SLASH. Don't like, don't read. (But if you do like, then please read and review!)

* * *

"Luke! Luke, wake up."

"Spook! What's wrong?"

Darren and Gideon crowded around the two unconscious figures on the floor. "Spook? Come on now, wake up." He patted Spook's cheeks quickly, and his eyes fluttered. Luke started to stir as well.

"Nyeurgh..." Spook muttered.

"What happened?" asked Jenny, but Lisa poked her.

"Sssh, let them wake up." On the other side of the room, Luke sat up like a shot, startling Gideon and Dax who were crouching down next to him. Dax leant forward.

"Luke?" he asked uncertainly. Luke blinked, and scowled.

"Luke, are you all right, mate?" Gideon asked, looking at his twin, who stared back at him, not saying anything. And then his eyes widened, and his hands went to his throat.

On the other side of the room, Spook- no, Luke, ran to a mirror. This time, not to check his hair, but his face. He was... Spook? But he wasn't Spook, he was Luke, always had been. But... Darren stood behind him, looking wildly between the two boys. They had changed.

Hang on. If they had changed, did that mean..? He turned around to face his brother, who was trying to talk to Luke... no, Spook, Spook in Luke's body.

"Gideon?"

* * *

Spook was frantically clutching his throat. He turned round and tried to say- '_Darren?' _But no sound came out and Darren shook his head. Gideon walked tentatively over to Luke, who was grinning.

"Luke, is that you?" Luke nodded, and then stopped, remembering. He could talk!

"Yes. Yeah, it's me. Hey there, Gid." Gideon grinned, and his twin pulled him into a hug.

"That is so cute," Mia sighed.

"Why?" asked Jenny.

"You know, cause his first word was his brother's name? That's adorable."

"Technically, Mia, his first word was _nyeurgh..._"

"Shut up, Jenny."

Spook ran over to himself, and furiously tried to speak. Darren passed him the whiteboard.

_What the hell are you doing in my body?_

"Yeah, like I tried to do this. Whoa, having a voice is weird." Luke replied, massaging his throat. "Good weird though." Spook grabbed his hand, and led him roughly over to the crystal. "What are you doing? Stop!" He wrenched his hand away and stood still. Spook looked confused.

"I think he's trying to get you over to the crystal, so you can change back," explained Darren.

"I know that," replied Luke.

"Don't you want your body back?" asked Lisa, moving forward, but Luke stepped back. His look was harsh and he laughed spitefully. It would've looked odd on his normal, kind face but on Spook's sharp features it looked positively evil.

"Why would I want my body back?"

He turned and ran.

Luke ran out of the doors, flinging them open as he passed and startling Clive who had just come out of the Science lab. He ran hard and fast, feeling his throat hurt as he breathed in, feeling his legs tighten. He wasn't used to being in such a fit body- one that was obviously used to being warmed-up before exercise. He breathed in painful, ragged breaths but he kept on running, his feet pounding the turf. Luke could hear footsteps behind him, and cries of "Stop! Luke, just wait!" but he ignored them.

"Stop! Spook- no, Luke! Just wait!" Darren was half running- half jogging behind Luke. When was he going to stop, god dammit? He couldn't run away for ever, not in Spook's body.

"Luke, give it a rest, you coward!" He yelled out, and Luke fell to the ground, breathing in deeply.

"Don't... don't call me a- a coward," he gasped out. Darren jogged over to sit by him.

"Too bad. Why don't you want to change back?" Luke took a few seconds to breathe in, to regain a little bit of normality before replying.

"Do you know what it feels like to be completely silent? To have to rely on a _whiteboard, _and some pathetic hand signals that only three other people know?" Darren thought about this.

"No. I don't know what it's like."

"Exactly. And I can talk, now. I may look like a git-"

"Hey!"

"But I can talk! Can't you hear it? This is me, talking. Properly talking. Why should I be sentenced to silence forever?"

"But you can't keep Spook's body! You just can't, you can't, it's wrong, because all I want to do now is lean over, and tell you everything's going to be all right, because you look like him, but you're not him and I need him." Darren gripped Luke's shoulders and stared at him meaningfully. "Don't you understand that?"

"You need him?" quoted Luke, with one raised eyebrow.

"Yes! For gods sake, he's all I have." He thought about what he'd said. "I mean, he's my only real friend." Luke shook his head.

"I don't care. Can't you just leave me alone, just for a bit? Can't I just be me, the proper me, the talking me, just for a bit?"

"This isn't you though, is it? You're all moody and... sort of scary. Is that the crystal?" Darren asked, and the red-haired boy laughed.

"It's not the crystal. It's two years of pent-up aggression, not being able to properly say anything, to complain or to yell, because it's too much effort to write something down, and then look at it and rub it out because I'm supposed to be nice to people. Well, why? Why is it always the broken people who have to be nice?"

"You're not broken, you've just got... a problem." Luke lay down in the grass. "No-one expects you to be nice all the time, Luke. No-one expects that of anyone."

"I'm done with being nice, Darren. I just want to be me."

**Angsty!Luke is fun to write. If you liked the chapter, or you thought there was something wrong with it, or you just want to ask something, please drop in a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings:** Contains Spook/Darren in an established relationship.

**AN: **If I hadn't made this totally clear already, this INCLUDES SLASH. Don't like, don't read. (But if you do like, then please read and review!) And I'm sorry this chapter was late, I was at a music festival.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dax and Gideon had just spotted Luke and Darren lying down in a grassy patch near the tree-house. Gideon jogged over to sit by the two.

"You allright, mate?" _Blimey, it feels weird to call Spook 'mate,' _Gideon thought as he looked at his general enemy and brother.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"You ran off pretty quick back there."

"Sorry." Gideon flicked him.

"Don't apologise, it's all right. But why'd you run out?"

"Because he can talk," explained Darren rather bitterly. He'd only just got Spook back and now he wasn't even Spook any more.

* * *

Back at Fenton Lodge, Mia was staring worriedly at Spook in Luke's body. She liked Spook, she really did, but she was scared that he would do something stupid and reckless to endanger his new body. Spook and Luke had never quite gotten along- Mia had it on good authority from Darren that when they had to write letters to one another for that class project with the balloons, Spook hadn't been particularly nice in his letter to Gideon's bespectacled brother. Mia sighed. She wished that Luke would get back soon. She was so worried about him.

* * *

At Luke's end, everyone was silent. Dax had gone "off on a foxtrot," he'd sad, but Luke knew he was going off to warn his buddy Owen about what had happened, and how weird Luke was acting. Like he cared! Darren looked bored, if anything. He was sad because his boyfriend was trapped in a another body, Luke reckoned. And Darren thought they were keeping everything _so _secret. _Please, _thought Luke, _a blind man could see it. _And anyway, Luke's old body wasn't half-bad looking- what was Darren's problem? And then there was Gideon. Luke did feel a little bad when he saw how anxious his brother looked. Luke didn't want to hurt him, damn it, but this was important, couldn't he see?

"So what happens now?" Asked Gideon after a lengthy silence. "Do we go back?"

"Yes," replied Darren firmly. He looked at Luke. Luke raised his hands ready to sign, and then dropped them, smiling. He could talk. Luke grinned, in spite of himself.

"Yeah, lets go back." He said. "But I'm not promising anything, though." He marvelled at how he sounded. How could he have hated the sound of Spook's voice before? It was beautiful. Luke got up slowly, and started to walk back with Gideon and Darren in tow.

* * *

"You know," mused Lisa as Mia thumbed through her Crystal Directory- "I reckon Luke's right. If I'd have been mute for a year, I'd be pretty happy to get a voice even if it wasn't mine." Lisa looked over at Spook, who was reading a Doctor Who book that Luke had left lying around earlier. "You're reading," she stated. Spook nodded. "I thought you hated Doctor Who?" Spook sighed, annoyed at being interrupted in his silent reverie and picked up the whiteboard.

"_I thought I did," _Lisa read out loud, "_but the book's really not that bad. I'm just giving Luke some time to cool off, you know? Let him sort himself out for a bit. I don't mind waiting." _Lisa looked startled as she read out the last few lines.

"Are you sure you two just swapped bodies?" She asked. "'Cause you're starting to act like him. It's kind of scary." Spook looked mildly affronted.

"Lees, you're right!" Mia cried, running over with her book. "Look, I've found the crystal in here, and there's a pretty interesting story that goes with it. Listen," she said as the remaining COLA'S put down what they were doing to hear what Mia had to say. "The crystal," she read out, "was said to be used by druids when two members of the camp had secret problems or difficulties with another member. The crystal would be placed in a trap, and when it was touched by the two troubled souls, they would swap bodies."

"That's right, that's our crystal," Jenny called out. Mia shushed her.

"Listen, Jen. Ideally," Mia continued to read, "the legend says that the two people would have to sort out their differences before returning to their original bodies. But If they took too long to do it, or didn't co-operate with each other then the crystal would start to attack. Each of them would start behaving like the other, more and more until they sorted out their problems. If they did not reveal what was hurting them, eventually the crystal would take them over and force them to tell all." Mia finished her passage to a stunned audience. "That's why Luke ran out earlier, and that's why Spook is sitting over there, mildly reading a book. A science-fiction book, at that. We have to get those two sorted, and fast."

At that moment, Owen walked in. "All right, everyone," he said in his soft yet commanding voice, "tell me exactly what happened. Where's Spook? No- I mean, Luke, don't I?" Everyone nodded and Lisa started to explain.

"What, he just ran out?" Owen asked after Lisa had told him the story.

"Yes, but Darren went after him, and I think Gideon went too. They should be back soon, I reckon." Owen sighed.

"You can never just have a quiet week in the COLA club, can you?" Spook held up a '_sorry' _on his whiteboard. "It's not your fault," he said and then took a double take. Spook was apologising? "What's going on?" he asked,

"Oh, yeah," said Lisa sheepishly. "You might want to read this." She pushed the Crystal Directory over to Owen who read it quickly.

"Well, this is a problem," he said at last as Luke, Gideon and Darren walked in. Spook grinned as Darren walked in and put his book down.

"You're reading Doctor Who?" asked Darren, and then shrugged when Spook wrote _'got bored. How is he?'_

Darren sighed, and lowered his voice as Owen talked to Luke. "He's being a right moody git, actually. He's pretty chuffed about having a voice."

'_I can understand that,' _wrote Spook. '_I'd be chuffed, too. I never figured out how annoying it is not to be able to speak before this.' _Darren looked at the red-head. He was surprised- Darren thought that Spook would have been raging about all over the place, not taking everything sitting down.

"Are you all right?" he asked and Spook nodded.

_'I'm fine.'_ Darren shrugged it off.

"How was the weekend with your dad?" Spook turned back to his book. "Oh come on, you can't keep it bottled up forever." Spook nodded, obviously trying to say _yes I can _like a petulant child. Darren shoved him lightly. "Come on, you can talk to me. Well, you can't _talk _to me, but you know what I mean."

"Oi, lover boys!" Darren and Spook turned round to see Lisa with her hands on her hips. "Time for you to change back, Spook."

"You got Luke to change his mind?" Darren asked hopefully. Lisa nodded and pointed to where Luke was talking to Mia.

"I set Mia on him. Poor bloke didn't stand a chance. Come on!" Darren and Spook walked over to the crystal. Luke left Mia where she was sitting and grudgingly came opposite Spook.

"Are you ready?" he asked and Spook nodded. "Come on then." Together, they put their hands on the crystal. And waited.

**Don't worry, this story has a fair few chapters in it yet. Have anything you want to see in the next bits? Drop it in a review :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings:** Contains Spook/Darren in an established relationship.

**AN: **Includes slash. And I'm sorry that this is so late, I had 6 mock GCSE's this week (6!) and I've been pretty busy with revision. But here it is, finally! And the page breaks might be missing, so read carefully!

* * *

Luke stared at the crystal. He was no expert on gemmology- but wasn't something supposed to have happened by now? He looked over at his body.

"Anything?" He asked, and Spook shook his head.

"You two haven't switched back?" Mia asked, walking over to the crystal. It had stopped glowing. Both the boys shook their heads- Spook's fists were clenched and he looked down at the floor. Gideon felt a small pang as he realised how familiar this expression was on his brother- the sad, angry look that was now adorning Luke's face was one that he had seen so many times, and never mentioned anything- idiot! Why didn't he pay better attention to his twin?

Mia had put down her book after re-reading the passage on their crystal.

"Luke, Spook- I don't think you can change back until you've sorted out your problems."

"Anything you want to get off your chest?" Clive asked, but both boys shook their heads.

"Nothing major," Luke said casually and Darren nodded.

"Typical boys," Lisa whispered to Jenny.

* * *

Owen had told Luke and Spook to sit in the D3 development room to "talk things over."

"I've got no problem with you, Spook," Luke assured him. "Whatever my problem is, i's something else." Spook nodded.

_I don't think my problem's to do with you either. Should we tell everyone that?_

"No, lets leave them alone for a bit. We've probably freaked them out enough for one day." The two sat in awkward silence for a while.

"So what's with you and Darren?" Luke asked out of the blue. Spook jumped and looked wide-eyed, before scribbling furiously.

_He's my friend! _Luke laughed, scoffing.

"If you're using an exclamation mark, you're not friends. Darren said while he was trying to get me to change back, oh, something like..." Luke adopted a Darren-like tone. "Luke, he's all I have!" Spook smiled. Darren said that? About _him_? _That's- that's really... wow,_ Spook thought. Luke playfully nudged him in the shoulder.

"Look at you, grinning like a puppy. You two are so together." The illusionist shrugged away, shocked.

_Don't be ridiculous._

"I wont tell anyone," Luke said softly. "But don't you think that might be your problem? Telling everyone else?"

Spook stormed out of the door. "Spook!" Luke called, leaning out of the door, but Spook was gone. Gideon poked his head around the corner.

"You allright, mate?"

"Not, now, Gid!" Luke called over his shoulder as he ran off down the corridor.

* * *

Gideon crashed onto his bed, face on pillow. Dax put down his book and stared at his tufty-haired friend.

"Something wrong?" Gideon responded, but his voice was muffled by the pillow. "Sorry?"

"My twin brother is stuck in the body of a red-haired, illusionist git. Yes, some thing's wrong." Dax moved over to sit next to his friend.

"You're acting like it's your fault."

"It is my fault," Gideon replied. "He's been so weird lately, and I totally failed to notice. He's my _brother, _for gods sake." He delved in his pocket and brought out some chocolate. Dax laughed.

"Anything can be solved with chocolate."

Luke had managed to get Spook back into the TV room. It was midnight, and they were holding what Lisa had dubbed as a secret "Cola Conference." They all sat in a circle while Mia dimmed the lights down and gave everyone a cushion to sit on.

"You know why we're all here," Lisa started off. "Luke and Spook- hey, that rhymes, have got a problem, and we're going to solve it." Alex raised his hand. "Yes, Alex?"

"I don't understand why we're doing this at midnight," he queried.

"We don't want the teachers involved right now," she explained. "Not even Owen," Lisa added with a meaningful look at Dax, who sighed. "So, does anyone have any ideas about how to switch these two back?"

"Erm, not to interrupt," Luke said, "but I thought we'd all figured out that we-" he gestured to Spook and himself "have to sort out a problem, or whatever?" Lisa nodded.

"That would work, if you two actually bothered to open up." Some people nodded.

_I honestly don't have a problem, _Spook wrote on his whiteboard, while shooting it a dirty look. Lisa sighed.

"Well, we've got to think of something! You two can't stay trapped like this forever, you've got families, and-" Darren gasped.

"Spook! That's it!" Spook looked confused. "Come on!" Darren grabbed his boyfriends wrist and dragged him, protesting, out of the room.

"Well, that was odd," Clive said in the silence.

* * *

_Darren, what the hell? _Wrote Spook. Darren grinned.

"Your dad- that's the reason why you've switched. You need to offload all that- internal tension you've got towards him." Spook shook his head. "Mate, come on!"

_Darren, it's not the reason._

"How do you know, though?"

_Cause Luke helped me figure it out. It's us, Darren. _When Darren looked perplexed he added another sentence. _I don't want us to be a secret any more._

**Please please please, send a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings:** Contains Spook/Darren in an established relationship. _Italics _is Spook writing on the whiteboard.

**AN: **Please read! Includes slash. Whew, what a week! I've been doing my Work Experience at my old junior school, so I've been super busy. But during lunchtimes, I've been writing this, and it is officially FINISHISHED! So this fic will now be updated at REGULAR times! :D I know, shocking, right? Also, for all you Darren fans, I've got a new fic coming up which is about Darren's life just before he gets to the COLA Club, and his life throughout the books, cause we know hardly anything about him.

Oh, and I made a new word. SPARREN. That's Spook/Darren. Which this fic has lots of. Prepare for the Sparren fluff! And some vaguely cringe-y coming out scenes. And some awesome angst-y Luke scenes will be coming up in the next chapter, cause I've been neglecting him in this fic recently.

* * *

Darren stared.

_'Say something,' _Spook scribbled.

"Umm..." Darren murmured, and Spook's face fell.

_You don't want to, do you?'_

"_'_No, it's not that!" Darren remonstrated quickly. "It's just..."

_'Scared?' _Asked Spook. Darren nodded.

"A little. Who knows what they're going to say?" Spook was in the midst of writing 'w_ho cares,' _when he rubbed it out and scribbled '_hang on,' _instead. Darren nodded again and sat down, waiting. Finally, the whiteboard was held up.

_'Look, it's not like I'm going to force you to do anything. Would I do that? And I guess I can talk to my Dad if you really think it will help. But why should you care what they think? And- PTO_

Spook flipped it over.

_-do you not think they may have guessed anyway? I wear a sequinned cloak. And you listen to the Les Miz soundtrack on repeat._

"So does Mia," Darren protested feebly.

'_Mia's a girl, and it's not just Les Miz.'_

"What else then?"

'_Wicked, for one. Joseph, The Sound Of Music... LEGALLY BLONDE, Darren. Legally Blonde.' _Spook could go on, but Darren's 'Legally Blonde The Musical' CD proved everything for him. All right, it was catchy, but no-one should have 'Bend and Snap' as their ringtone. Not even secret boyfriends.

"So I like musicals," Darren argued. "That doesn't prove anything." Spook moved up on the bed and gave him a quick hug. (A manly one.)

'_It doesn't have to be today, you know.' _Darren thought for a moment.

"I need to tell Clive. I want him to know first, and you're going to tell Mia, right?" Spook nodded. "Meet you at dinner, then," Darren said as he walked to the door. "And this had better work!"

* * *

Darren meandered slowly over to the Science Lab and knocked on the door.

"Clive?" The bespectacled boy was working at his books, per usual, with some rather scary looking test-tubes fizzing nearby.

"Hmm? Darren! Hello!" Clive dropped his pen and motioned for his friend to sit down. "I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now, but I got caught up in this experiment, you know how it gets..." Darren grinned weakly. He enjoyed being with Clive, even if people thought they made an unlikely pair. Spook had hated them being friends when they'd first started to hang out properly, but Darren really hadn't cared and it had resulted in a nasty row on 'balloon day.' Darren hated arguing with Spook, but he was determined to stay good friends with Clive. It was now time to test that friendship.

"Hey, Clive," he managed to say but Clive didn't answer. Instead he narrowed his eyes, and lay the flat of his hand against Darren's forehead.

"You're very hot. Are you nervous about something?" Darren chuckled.

"You could say that. There's something I need to tell you."

"Go on," Clive prompted. He pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"It's about me and Spook."

"Spook and I," Clive corrected.

"Yeah, Spook and I. There's something... something we've sort of been keeping secret." Clive thought about this for a minute.

"Are you about to tell me the thing everyone's been wondering about for, ooh, three months now?"

"Possibly," Darren conceded. "Wait, everyone?"

"Yes, pretty much everyone. You two close yourself off from other people and you share a room. What were we supposed to think?" Darren spluttered.

"So do Dax and Gideon! I mean, they share a room, that is."

"Yes," Clive said patiently, "but they're both obviously straight. Whereas you listen to showtunes and Spook wears a cloak. With _sequins _on." Darren stared at his feet. Did this mean Clive was supportive, or what? He'd all but decided to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," Clive said softly. "I don't care who you're with. I'll stick by you, even if Spook hates me."

"He doesn't hate you," Darren argued but he was grinning. "Thanks."

Clive and Darren walked down to dinner where most of the other COLA's were already eating. Spook smiled and winked as he sat down and Mia made it clear in her own subtle way that she was happy about the news.

"Is there a COLA meeting tonight?" she asked nonchalantly.

"It is Wednesday, so yes. Six as usual, and-" Lisa upped the volume slightly, "Mrs Sartre and Owen are coming, cause of, well, you know." She motioned to Luke who was chatting with Gid, and to Spook, who was exchanging a panicked look with Darren. They hadn't bargained on teachers being there. Darren gave a start as something cold brushed his arm. Looking down, he saw the whiteboard that Spook has scribbled on in tiny lettering.

'_Do we go ahead?'_

He looked at Clive, and at Mia, then finally at Spook. Although god, he was sick and not being able to see the mess of ginger hair and freckles that normally greeted him when he looked at his (secret) boyfriend. The freckles, admittedly, were still there, but the hair was blonde and it was NOT SPOOK. At all. It was driving him insane, and Gideon must have been feeling the same way. Darren wrote a reply to confirm, wary of being overheard.

_'Yes.'_

**Reviewers get lovely virtual Sparren muffins!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings/Info:** Contains Spook/Darren in an established relationship. _Italics _is Spook writing on the whiteboard. Oh, and I don't know how much one person can rage about MISSING PAGE BREAKS, so I'm sorry about that.

**AN: **Did I say regular updates? Sorry... I got caught up in half-term summer madness. Hope you enjoy- if you do, please review!

* * *

"COLA meeting in session," Lisa called out.

"May I?" Owen asked, and she motioned for him to speak. "As we all know, there's been some... _trouble, _concerning Luke and Spook." A few people laughed- trouble didn't even begin to cover it. "We have decided that if we can't swap you two back by the end of this week, we'll have to tell your parents." Both boys nodded.

_It's not like Dad would care anyway, _Spook thought.

"All right, Luke, you first. Any headway in your problem?" Luke sighed.

"No, and I keep telling you, I don't have a problem. I'm fine!"

"Fine," Owen conceded. "We'll talk properly later. Spook, anything?" Spook gulped as he looked at Darren.

"Yeah, we think so," Darren replied, and then realised something. "Damn it, I forgot you can't talk. I have to say it now, don't I?" The boy next to him grinned. "All right then. Me and- I mean," he shot Clive an exaggerated glance- "Spook and _I, _are, well..." he faltered and everyone waited expectantly.

"They're together!" Mia burst out, and then clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, my god..." Lisa murmured. Gideon laughed.

"About time, I reckon." Dax looked at his best friend, and marvelled about how easily he accepted this. He smiled too. Spook did not smile, but directed his mute gaze at Mia, who was slowly lowering her hands as everyone stared at the newly-official couple.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I just... I've been bursting for everyone to know all day. I just think it's cute, you know?" She looked at Darren pleadingly.

"It's all right," he consoled. Spook nodded, and was about to gleefully embarrass Darren by taking his hand when he started to feel a little light-headed. He went to rub his eyes and suddenly found himself falling backwards, like he was in slow-motion. The fog in his mind started to invade his eyes and surround his eyes until the last thing he heard was Darren's voice, yelling his name.

* * *

When Spook awoke, his vision was still blurred. Had he fainted? He stood up woozily and noticed that Darren wasn't next to him. He wasn't even in the common room- he was alone, in an endless grey stretch of space. Only he could see Darren, and the common room, like a far away picture. Darren was massive- had he grown or had Spook shrunk? And- _oh no, no no no... _he could see Darren leaning over someone- shaking their shoulders. He could see Owen, getting the others into order. He could see himself, his real body before any of this happened, in front of him. He brought his hand up to the closest thing he could find, a wall. The reflection did the same, and then it hit him.

He was _inside _the crystal.

* * *

"Spook?" Mia held him by the hand and was pouring out healing energy, but nothing happened. "It's not working!" she cried out.

"Mia, stop." Owen prised her away gently. "You'll hurt yourself," he warned her as he looked at Mrs Sartre. "Do you know what's going on?" She nodded.

"He solved his problem," she explained. "The crystal haz eem now." Darren gasped and whirled around to face her.

"He's- he's gone?"

"No," she replied, and motioned to the glowing crystal. "The crystal haz eem now. Regardez-" and she pointed over to the corner of the room where the crystal sat on a table. Darren, Clive and Mia rushed over to it and saw a very small, ghost-like Spook inside, pounding on the walls.

"There he is!" Clive pointed, and they all noticed that he was back to his normal body, although Luke was not, and Luke was still normal sized, and thoroughly confused. Spook stopped when he saw them.

* * *

"Darren!" Spook yelled. "I'm trapped!"

"I can't hear him," Darren said worriedly to his friends. "The crystal walls are too thick. Why is he in there?" Paulina Sartre walked over to the group.

"He has solved his problem, yes, but-" and here she motioned to Luke- "he haz not. Only when both problems are solved can they change back."

* * *

"Come on, Luke," Gideon urged. His brother still looked like a ginger git, yes, but Luke had to still be in there somewhere- "there's got to be something!"

"There's not," Luke replied as he struggled to contain himself. He was feeling angry, angrier than he'd ever felt in his life and it was all directed towards one person. He couldn't say anything- and for once it was by choice. He didn't _want _to hurt him, but the crystal's force was getting strong and Luke feared that if he had to speak again it would all come out, and he did _not want that. _

"There has to be," Gideon said softly. Luke turned to face him properly.

"Well there isn't. Nothing I can do about it." Luke moved to the door, desperate to get out of the room, he knew something bad would happen if he stayed and he couldn't control it. All the other COLA's had gone- only Mia, Darren, Clive, Dax and Gideon were left. He didn't make eye contact with any of them. If only he could go, get away from the room and from the crystal- but Gideon, stupid Gideon had to try again.

"Luke," he said, moving a hand onto his brothers arm, but Luke wrenched it away furiously as he felt the hate bubbling up inside him, desperate to get out. And it did.

"You left me, all right!" Luke yelled fiercely as he stepped backwards. Gideon looked shocked. The room fell into silence.

"Me?"

"Not you," Luke spat. _Get out, _he thought, but the damage was already done. He might as well finish what he'd started. "Never you, Gid." His gaze levelled to meet the eyes of the boy who's actions had been plaguing him for the last year. "Dax."

**Did you see it coming? Please let me know what you thought.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings/Info: **Contains slash- don't like, don't read. Italics is either thought, someone signing or writing on a whiteboard. Or possibly just used for emphasis.

**AN: **I apologise for this chapter- it's not very good, and it's short, but I had to upload something. (Sorry for the late update!) Although, I like all the little mini-bits after Luke's outburst. Does anyone else like the mini-bits?

I'm listening to the weirdest songs while writing this. I mean, this chapter is super angsty, and I'm listening to really happy stuff like _Beauty and the Beast._

* * *

Dax was, to say the least, stunned.

"Me?" he asked. Luke nodded.

"Umm... how? Luke?" Gideon prodded his brother gently. Luke, as usual, looked at the floor while he spoke.

"Last summer before- before the wave. You knew what she was going to do." His accusing manner struck Dax to the bone. Luke couldn't think that, could he?

"No I didn't! I didn't know about the wave, I swear! Luke, mate-"

"I'm not your mate," Luke cut him off in an icy tone. Gideon was about to step in- but Luke was his brother, and Dax was his best friend! What was going on?

"I swear I didn't know!" Dax protested in front of him.

"But you knew what she _COULD _do!" Luke shouted straight at Dax, breathing heavily, his eyes full of hatred. "You knew, and you didn't tell _anyone. _YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED IT!" Dax said nothing. His eyes were wide with shock and he couldn't speak.

_Ironic, that, _Luke thought. "If you'd have told someone- anyone- _nothing _would have gone wrong. All the COLA's would still be here. And I wouldn't have been stuck in France, with a _psychopathic sister _who tried to_ rip out my tongue!" _Luke yelled at this at the top of the voice. He no longer cared what anyone thought of him. Suddenly he stumbled backwards. For a moment, he felt very woozy, and then suddenly very sharp. Why was everyone staring at him? What had he said?

"Dax, I..." he started, and the other boy noticed that his face was softer, his ton was entreating him. Then he shook his head and the harsh look was back. The crystal wasn't done yet.

"I blame you," he managed to spit out in a half-whisper, "for everything."

Then he fell backwards, almost gracefully, as the darkness and the crystal claimed him for their own.

* * *

"It wasn't him saying that, it can't have been," Gideon babbled to his best friend in their room. "You remember what Mia said, the crystal takes them over- makes them act like the other person. It's just because he's in Spook's body, that's what changed him."  
"Yeah," mumbled Dax. "He said it like Spook. But he had to be thinking it in the first place, Gid."

* * *

It had been barely 10 minutes since Luke's angry outburst, and both boys were still unconscious. Darren was getting more worried by the second as Spook's image had disappeared from the crystal when Luke fainted- it had got to the point where Owen had subtly sent Mia in to help calm him down. Darren never knew when to ask for help. Everyone else had retreated to their rooms. They were all shocked that Luke could say such things. Lisa was close to tears- she had known about Catherine as well. It was her fault too.

* * *

Darren sat in the medical room waiting for the two unconscious boys to wake up. They'd been there for about half an hour at least.

"Come on, Spook." He gently pressed the other boys hand. Not Luke's hand this time. If Spook came back, he'd come back to his own body, Darren was sure of it. "Come back to me."

* * *

"Where are we?" Spook asked groggily. Luke sat up and took in his surroundings. They were in a sort of jewelled cavern. At least a hundred little boxes were lined the walls. Around 11 of them were bright and sparkly, the rest were dull. Luke opened him mouth to point his out but was immediately _sssh!-_ed by Spook. With a jolt, Luke realised it didn't matter. He couldn't speak anyway. When he looked down, his hands were freckled again, and when he looked to the side he could see a tuft of blond hair out of the corner of his eye. Luke was back in his own body.

Strangely enough, he was sort of... happy. Spook finished walking around and managed to stay in one place for a second.

"I know what this is," Spook said quietly. "It's the corridor."

Luke got to his feet. In his mind, a corridor was a beige sort of place that belonged in school, a brown hallway with students running through it, motivational posters with smiling polar bears on, that sort of thing. It definitely didn't look like a sparkly cavern, so he looked at Spook questioningly, as if to say- _what the hell are you on about?_

"I don't know!" Spook snapped. "The word sort of came to me. That's what this is- the corridor. Don't ask me why."

"You are right," said an ethereal voice that floated in from behind them. It reminded Spook of Mrs Sartre. "Come forward, boys." Together, they stepped into the gloom.

"Hello?" Spook called out.

They emerged into a brightly lit room, much like the cavern. A woman was there to greet them.

"Greetings," she said. "My name is Hessa."

* * *

**AN: **So, that was that chapter. Forgive me for the shoddy description of Hessa and the cavern, I don't have my copy of Stirring the Storm with me and I don't want to get anything wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

**Name: **Rhyming Doesn't Equal Friendship

**Warnings/Info:** Contains slash- (Sparren.) When you see italics, it's someone signing, writing on a whiteboard or just thinking.

**AN: **Hello! Summer holidays are awesome, aren't they? I love the summer! Oh, and there's a lot of dialogue in this chapter. There's a lots of things to be said- because this is the last chapter. But don't worry, you get an epilogue!

* * *

"You are here," Hessa said, "because of the crystal we sent down to your home."

"You sent it!" Spook cried out. "Do you know how much trouble that's caused?"

"We watch over everything all of you do, Spencer."

"Spook," he corrected her, but she waved his comment away.

"We watch over you, and as we watched, we saw that both of you had problems that needed to be resolved. The crystal helped with that."

_No it didn't, _Luke thought. _Those things I said to Dax... I can't believe how harsh I was. I can never face him again, can I? _

Luke suddenly noticed that Spook's wide-eyed stare was now focused on him.

"I thought it would be easier to talk," Hessa explained hurriedly, "if I could hear both of you. So Luke, your thought are amplified for a little while."

_Oh. That's a little intrusive, _Luke thought unthinkingly. _Sorry. _

"When can we go back?" Spook asked. "'Cause I reckon Darren's getting worried. And Mia will be frantic." Luke tutted.

_Why would Mia be frantic about you?_

"She wont be frantic about _me, _idiot. Christ."

_Oh. _Luke allowed himself to smile for a few moments.

"That depends," Hessa interjected, "on whether you have solved your problems. I have no power your thoughts and actions." Spook folded his arms.

"Well, I've solved mine. Can I go?"

"Have you?" Hessa asked. She glided over to the red-haired boy and took hold of his shoulders. Spook looked slightly unnerved.

"Yes..." he confirmed slowly. "Me and Darren-"

_Darren and I._

"Darren and I," Spook amended through gritted teeth, "sort of... went public. In a way. Wasn't that my problem?" Hessa nodded.

"But how did Darren feel about that?" He thought about that for a minute.

"Well, he was a little scared, I guess- but so was I!" Spook narrowed his eyes. "I didn't force him into it, if that's what you're suggesting." He tried hard to ignore Luke's various comments on that subject. "Would you shut up?" he rounded on Luke.

_I'm honestly not trying to say anything!" _Luke sighed. Having his thoughts amplified was extremely annoying, and he said as much, in a fashion.

"Not intentionally," Hessa carried on. "But you should know that Darren would do anything for you."

"What, so I have to stay here?" Spook stepped backwards angrily and shrugged his shoulders so Hessa's arms would drop down. He glared at her. "Because I won't go without a fight!"

"No no," she laughed. "I wouldn't dream of keeping you here- you won't survive much longer in this atmosphere. I will send you home- just try to be more aware of people's feelings in future. And we will meet again, Spook. Just one more time." He nodded warily and disappeared when Hessa waved her hand. Luke scrambled to his feet.

_Where'd he go? Is he back home? Can you send me back now?_

"Yes, I will. Just think over this, Luke- you told Mr Jones how you felt, but now is the time to talk about it rationally, lets say."

_All right, _Luke conceded. Hessa raised her hand, and Luke thought of something. _Wait! _He called out in his mind. _You've got powers, right? _She nodded.

"Why do you ask?" Luke played with the hem of his shirt.

_Can you... can you fix me?_ His cheeks burnt and he refused to look anywhere but the floor.

"Oh, Luke." Hessa smiled softy and raised her hand again. "You're not broken."

Luke waved half-heartedly as the molecules inside him fizzed and started to transport him home.

**Epilogue:**

It had been a week since Luke and Spook had come back from the corridor. They'd promised not to reveal the details of what had happened there, but Luke had a sneaky feeling that Darren knew, or would end up knowing pretty soon. Luke didn't mind- he'd told Gideon, anyway. Mia had wormed it out of him as well- the one person he hadn't told was Dax. They hadn't spoken since.

"He hates me," Dax confided in Owen as they sat in his office. He had been called down under pretence of Owen _'needing help with the fire.' _Dax knew that was utter rubbish. Owen just wanted to talk.

"Dax, it was the crystal that made him yell at you like that."

"But-"

"Ssh! Yes, he was probably thinking those things, sometimes, but not as harshly as he was saying them." After Owen had said this there came a knock at the door. "Let them in, would you?" Dax got up, pulled the door open, and came face to face with Luke.

Luke stood still, his mouth an "o" of surprise. Quickly, he signed something. Not for the first time, Dax wished he were better versed in BSL.

"He's in there, mate," he guessed. Luke nodded and stepped inside.

"Luke!" Owen called. "Just the man I wanted to see. Sit down, please." Luke did so and sat gingerly in the chair opposite Dax. "I wanted to talk to the both of you." Luke nodded resignedly. He started to scribble on his board.

"Sorry, Luke. I know it's easier signing," Dax realised, but Luke made no response. Finally, he held up his board.

_I'm sorry I said those things. I didn't mean to hurt you, honestly I didn't. I tried to get away before it all came out- I'd blame it on the crystal but that's just an excuse. And I don't blame you- _there was a smudge after this bit that showed Luke had rubbed something out- _not for everything. _

"Not for everything?" Dax asked weakly. Luke shrugged. He certainly blamed Dax for some things, but definitely not as strongly as he had made out earlier. "You don't need to apologise," Dax started. "You were right, I should have told someone." He gulped as the memory of the wave and Luke's peaceful face swarmed into his vision. He saw it most nights, in fitful dreams. They only started to let up when they rescued Luke from France, but it wasn't enough. "I-" Dax stopped, feeling embarrassed but Luke motioned for him to go on. "I think about it every day. What would have happened if I had said something." He looked at the floor for a while- his face was burning and although he would never admit it, his eyes were filling with tears.

Finally, Luke tapped his shoulder and signed something that even Dax could recognise.

_Friends? _He asked.

Dax nodded.

"Thanks, mate," he answered with a grin.

* * *

Spook headed to the music room. He didn't need to look where he was going, his feet led the way towards Darren's voice that echoed throughout the halls, and the guitar melody that happily strummed out a familiar tune. Spook stopped and rested in the doorway to watch his boyfriend (_oh yes,_ Spook thought smugly, o_fficially mine) _singing his favourite song.

"When the moon fell in love with the sun,

All was golden in the sky

All was golden when the day met the night."

* * *

**AN: **So there we are, guys! I'm dedicating this last chapter to **Triple Dimension Key **and **Starowner, **who have been utterly fabulous reviewers. If anyone's interested, the song at the end is called "When The Day Met The Night" by "Panic! At The Disco." I think the song describes Darren and Spook very well.

Until next time, readers,

Adelaide.


End file.
